Archives

Posts Tagged ‘Inspired Workplace’

The core that everything else is based upon is your company values. Revisit the values that you stand for as an organization because as you grow and become better and different, your values change. Do you suppose Bill Gates has the same values today as he did when he was 19 years old starting his first business? No – he’s become much more philanthropic and had to grow as a human being. His values had to change to create better results. There’s always a need to go back and revisit your values.

You don’t have to have the standard values that every company has. Here’s a list of company values my team came up with a few years ago:

Extreme commitment to customer success. Customer satisfaction doesn’t matter. Customer Success is what it’s about. Everything anybody does should be defined by “Does this help the customer succeed more?”

Blue Vase. Watch the video to hear the whole story about the blue vase. Do you ever have people who are really busy telling you why something can’t be done when they could be spending just a little bit more energy to just figure out how to get it done? Blue Vase in our office is code for “I know this is impossible, but figure it out anyway because it needs to get done.”

No excuses. Excuses don’t replace results. Instead of making excuses say, “I blew it. Here is my massive corrective action so that this doesn’t happen again.” Making excuses to cover up mistakes really creates chaos in organizations. As soon as you start allowing excuses, you will see a decrease in your results.

Having and Spreading Fun!

Commitment to personal growth and commitment to professional growth. In order to have an organization that grows, you better have people who are committed to reading and learning. You should read at least one book a month in your profession so you can make yourself better at what you do.

Sense of urgency. One of the most limited resources that we all share is time. People’s time needs to be used effectively.

Positive reinforcement to fellow associates. People always think they don’t get enough appreciation from their manager, but the research show that it’s really from their fellow employees where it matters. So you better have people who are givers and always showing their appreciation for others.

Not signed up for the TGIM e-zine?Transform your team from “snooze-button hitters” to “rock-star performers” and create a buzz-worthy environment your clients will love. Sign up today and receive the TGIM e-zine and Roxanne’s weekly one-minute audio every Monday morning!

Not signed up for the TGIM e-zine?
Transform your team from “snooze-button hitters” to “rock-star performers” and create a buzz-worthy environment your clients will love. Sign up today and receive the TGIM e-zine and Roxanne’s weekly one-minute audio every Monday morning!

A friend of a friend of mine played varsity basketball in college. Brian was never a star, but always a good solid team player with good stats. Most of all, he could be relied upon, on or off the court.

He didn’t get much attention from the press or the fans because he was overshadowed by a hot shot I’ll call Troy. Troy was the guy who’d make the three-point shot at the buzzer or do the bob-and-weave, dance-and-fake moves that dazzled the other team and put points on the scoreboard.

But as I watched them play, I began to notice a pattern. If Brian got the ball, he would immediately look around to see who was in the best position to make the shot. More often than not, he’d pass. Once Troy had the ball, though, you knew he’d be taking the shot himself. He saw even his own team members as obstacles to be gotten around on the way to His Big Moment.

When they both reached their senior year, it was time for the team to vote for Senior MVP. Brian was sure Troy was a lock. Troy was sure too. And they were both wrong. It was Brian.

The Most Valuable Player isn’t the one who puts the most points on the board. It’s the one who did the most to advance the team’s goals as a whole.

The same is true in business. Sometimes the last person to get on board in a culture transformation is the big shot, the star—the one who “knows” he or she is indispensible and is far too busy grooming in the mirror for the next close-up to give a thought to what’s good for the team.

Maybe he has twice the sales numbers of the second place salesperson. Maybe she’s a genius at schmoozing clients. But if they can’t get on board a positive culture transformation, I have news for you—he or she ain’t your Most Valuable Player.

Culture is everything. Sales numbers don’t drive culture—culture drives sales. Allow a prima donna to smirk on the sidelines while everyone else is hard at work building something new and the tail is wagging the dog.

As your new culture takes root, your “star” will fast be eclipsed by the skyrocketing productivity of those who had been in his shadow—and you’ll have everything to gain and very little to lose by telling your star player, in no uncertain terms, to get on the team bus or hit the showers.

Bill Eastman was never one for self-doubt. Truth be told, he considered it a weakness. Doubt yourself and others will quickly follow. Same with his politics, his religion, his sports teams and his business decisions. Once he made a decision, once he took an action, he was done with uncertainty. He didn’t “think.” He didn’t “believe.” He KNEW.

That’s why when his phone rang in L.A. at 5:30 a.m., he picked up the phone with the certain knowledge that someone else had screwed up.

“This better be good.”

It was an administrative assistant in the New York office. “Sorry about the early call. I’m about to send out the bid you prepared, and I just wanted to be sure you meant to…”

“Meant to what? I wouldn’t have sealed the envelope if I wasn’t sure. Send it in!” He slammed the phone down.

“Doesn’t seem…who in blazes do you think you are? Do you have an MBA?”

“No sir, I…”

“I didn’t think so! I did the figures myself! Send it in, and don’t you dare call back or your next call will be looking for a job!”

It took all her courage, but she redialed. She waited patiently as he thundered into the phone on the other end, then said: “Nine hundred twenty dollars.”

“What??”

“The comma is a decimal. We are committing the team to a three-month job for nine hundred twenty dollars. That seemed…well, it seemed low to me.” She paused. “Granted, I don’t have an MBA.”

It was a lesson Bill Eastman wouldn’t soon forget. As he hit SEND on the corrected $920,000 bid, he clicked over and ordered two dozen roses for the woman who had saved his company nearly a million dollars—and surely saved his job.

EVERYONE makes mistakes. It’s not just a cliché. It’s an iron-clad fact. When our inflated egos get us thinking we’ve become impervious to error, it’s our toe catching the rug at the tippy top of a very long staircase. And it’s a long, hard tumble from there.

So the next time you find yourself feeling a little too certain that you’ve beaten the human condition, take just a moment to find your cautious humility. It could save you a very nasty fall.